The performance steering wheel: Reconceptualizing performance measurement in small and medium-sized independent hotels

This study examines how performance measurement is perceived and implemented in small and medium-sized independent hotels. Existing studies indicate that performance measurement in small and medium-sized hotels lags behind and is less sophisticated than that of large enterprises, posing significant implementation challenges. Such views, however, rarely consider the contextual conditions shaping SME hotel operations. This study, drawing on the Contingency Theory, explores how performance measurement is understood and implemented by owners and managers of independent SME hotels. Using a phenomenological approach, the study is based on 30 in-depth, semi-structured interviews conducted in Southeast England. The findings indicate that performance measurement practices are informal to semi-formal, selective, and bespoke, reflecting deliberate managerial choices oriented toward immediate operational control rather than formal strategic systems. These practices are shaped largely by hotel size, resource availability, managerial experience, and lifestyle orientation. Based on the findings, the study proposes the Performance Steering Wheel and associated Practical Performance Measurement Indicators as a flexible, practice-oriented framework for performance measurement in SME hotels. The study advances hospitality management research by reframing informal performance measurement as an adaptive approach and offering a practical framework that aligns measurement practices with the realities of SME hotel operations